Congressman calls for investigation of leaks in Google antitrust case

In recent months, there has been a string of news stories about the Federal Trade Commission's investigation of Google for antitrust violations. These reports invariably cited anonymous sources.

Now Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA), the chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, wants to know whether FTC staffers were responsible for these leaks. In a letter sent to the FTC's inspector general last week, he noted such leaks would be a violation of federal law and he urged an investigation.

"The FTC Act and the Commission's Operating Manual preclude the Commission and its staff from disclosing nonpublic information to the public and the media," Issa wrote. "Moreover, information that may be disclosed must be 'for attribution and on the record.' Unfortunately, unnamed and anonymous sources have provided the media with nonpublic developments in the investigation of Google."

But not all of the leaks concerning the investigation have been accurate. In October, we noted a Reuters report that "four of the FTC commissioners have become convinced after more than a year of investigation that Google illegally used its dominance of the search market to hurt its rivals, while one commissioner is skeptical." Then in November, we reported on another rumor the FTC's staff had recommended moving forward with an antitrust case over the search giant's misuse of standards-essential patents. Bloomberg reported "a majority of the agency’s five commissioners are inclined to sue."

As it turned out, Google got slapped on the wrist. Both the search issue and the patent issue were on the FTC's agenda, but contrary to rumors the FTC decided not to sue over them.

Reports became more reliable in December. On December 11, Politico reported the patent issue would be resolved with a deal that limited Google's use of standards-essential patents. And on December 19, Bloomberg correctly predicted the case wouldn't be settled until after the new year.

Bloomberg cited anonymous sources who claimed "Google had been preparing a letter with voluntary concessions to end the agency’s investigation of its practices in the Internet search market without a formal settlement or lawsuit." It also reported the FTC was "preparing to file a consent decree on patents curbing Google’s ability to seek court orders barring competitors’ products where the company has agreed to license the technology on reasonable terms."

Timothy B. Lee
Timothy covers tech policy for Ars, with a particular focus on patent and copyright law, privacy, free speech, and open government. His writing has appeared in Slate, Reason, Wired, and the New York Times. Emailtimothy.lee@arstechnica.com//Twitter@binarybits